


Jim Nill is not impressed with your crush

by LuccaAce



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: First Date, First Kiss, Fluff, IN SPACE!, M/M, Pining, Sci-Fi AU, Tyler's giant crush on Jamie, hockey in space, it could totally happen, like seriously all the fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 21:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6394291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuccaAce/pseuds/LuccaAce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From this Seventh Sanctum prompt: This story takes place in a large nation in a galaxy-spanning federation. In it, a selfless movie producer falls madly in love with a clumsy hockey player.</p><p>Tyler's a successful movie producer who can't stay away from his spaceship's hockey team. The captain is just so sweet and good with his boys and nice-smelling. It's okay, though. It's not like his crush is a huge distraction or anything. And he's pretty sure Jamie's not going to notice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jim Nill is not impressed with your crush

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm a sucker for the Seventh Sanctum prompts on Tumblr. They're pretty much amazing. I saw one with hockey and had to write it, and of course I had to do it with Jamie and Tyler.
> 
> Please excuse my lazy world-building -- I wanted to write something short, so the details might not make sense. Sorry about that. Also, I don't have anyone to beta for me, so please let me know any mistakes you might find. I went back and fixed a couple things, but seriously please tell me if you see anything else.

"No, Bergeron, for the last time, I am not going back to the _Bruin_. I know," Tyler sighed, grateful video was turned off on his comms for the moment. "I miss you guys, too. But you know I've got stuff to do here on the _Star_. She's my home now, you know?" He had actually now been on the _Star_ longer than he'd been on the _Bruin_ , but everyone still  made a big deal out of him leaving for the _Star._

Patrice grumbled, but he let it go. The _Star_ had a wider circuit, and offered Tyler better opportunities for scene locations. Not that he was always in charge of where they shot — he had people for that. Still, sometimes it was nice to get his hands dirty with the small work around a movie. The crews on set, those that were new and hadn't worked with him before, never guessed that the handsome, bearded man standing to the side with his heavily-tattooed arms crossed was the movie's producer.

He wouldn't lie— he liked to see them get flustered when he introduced himself.

Chuckling to himself, Tyler worked his way to his favorite place on the _Star_ — the hockey rink. He had played as a child, and well into his teens, but he had always been too small for his coaches to put any faith in him. Falling in love with the art of movie-making hammered the final nail in the coffin of his hockey aspirations — when he had to choose between hockey practice and video, he chose the latter. And the rest, as they say, is history.

"Dad," a breathless teen jogged up to him. "Mr. Nill wants to know about that Western you've been telling him about."

Tyler snorted. "You can tell Jim that I'm working on it. And that he can comm me directly if he really wants to know."

"He said that you blocked all his calls last week. And that you pretend like someone else is calling you when you don't want to answer his questions. And that you turn your comms off every time you go to the hockey rink. And —"

"Marshall!" Tyler interrupted, feeling himself flush at the mention of the rink. He knew why he was so drawn there, but he did not need Jim Nill telling his sweet boy Marshall about that. He was too young and innocent.

Marshall blinked up at him, big brown eyes completely untainted by any mention of hockey crushes. Thank goodness for small mercies, Tyler guessed.

Tyler took a deep breath. "Buddy, I'm glad you're getting along with Mr. Nill. And I appreciate you helping me with my work. But you know these things take time."

"I know Dad. And I know you're on your way to the rink again. Is Uncle Jamie practicing today?" Marshall asked.

Tyler eyed his son speculatively. He honestly couldn't tell if he was aware of Tyler's giant crush on the hockey star, or if he just knew that they were friends. Cash, Tyler's other son, was probably aware. Even though he was only eight years old to Marshall's twelve, Cash sometimes had frightening moments of insight.

"Of course Jamie's practicing today," he said after concluding that Marshall was asking a normal question and not probing him for crush intel.

Marshall's eyes brightened, and he bounced over to his dad excitedly. "That's great! Can I come watch with you? Do you think Uncle Jamie will want to come get lunch with us after? I mean, I know he likes you okay, but does he like me?"

Tyler scoffed. "Of course he likes you!" As if anyone could dislike Marshall and Cash—they were absolutely adorable and infinitely loveable, and anyone who said otherwise would have to answer to him. Jamie was always happy when Tyler mentioned the four of them hanging out.

"Really?" Now Marshall was grinning widely and rubbing his head happily against Tyler's arm. He was such an affectionate kid—Tyler hadn't been able to leave him at the boys' home on one of the regular stops the _Bruin_ made. He had been a little young to adopt a kid, especially since he was single, but the home was over full, and Tyler had money. Then, shortly after transferring to the _Star_ , he had to swing by another boys' home on the _Star's_ circuit. There, he met Cash, whose black hair and black eyes had stolen his heart in less time than it took him to ask, "do you want to come home with me?"

Wrapping his arm around his older son and pulling him into a side hug, Tyler assured him, "Anyone would love you, kid. You're pretty great."

They worked their way down into the belly of the _Star_. When Tyler felt a chill from the ice, he grinned and held Marshall's hand. He smiled up at his dad and they skipped giddily down into the seats together.

On the ice, Jamie and his team were already hard at work. Lindy Ruff, the coach, was directing them in power play drills. Jamie watched him with a frown of concentration on his face. Tyler barely kept himself from sighing happily.

When the players took a break, Jamie skated over to the glass where Tyler and Marshall were watching.

"Hi Uncle Jamie," Marshall greeted, nearly plastering himself against the glass to get as close as he could.

Jamie smiled widely. "Hi, Marshall," he returned in that soft voice of his. Then he turned to Tyler. "Hi Tyler."

"Jamie, hey, how's it going? Looks like you guys are really getting good at that rotation." He told himself firmly to be cool and not act like an idiot.

"Yeah, it's working okay for now. We'll just have to see how we do against the guys on the _Avalanche_ when our circuits cross next week." Jamie grimaced, and Tyler shared a frown in sympathy. The last few times they'd faced the _Avalanche's_ team, they had really struggled. Especially in the games on the _Avalanche_.

Hockey had become one of the unofficial sports to do in space, which had apparently been a surprise at first. But the natural inclination of the ship was to be cold, so they did not have a lot of difficulty keeping the ice frozen, especially near the hull, where they kept the rinks. They had designated water for the rinks onboard, with no water lost, so there was no waste of resources.

Some ships had tried to promote other formerly popular sports as the game to play and watch onboard, but hockey and basketball were the only two that stuck. Basketball was usually played on a higher deck. They had tried to share a space, but the basketball players complained about the cold that close to the hull. Studies showed that having 'local' sports teams helped grow a sense of community among the inhabitants of a ship, so the teams became staples on every major ship in the federation.

"Dad, your comm is buzzing," Marshall told him helpfully. "Dad?" He pointed to the buzzing pocket of Tyler's pants.

Tyler pressed a button on it to make it be quiet without pulling it out. "Shh, you didn't hear anything," he told Marshall, grinning at Jamie.

Jamie rolled his eyes. "Don't you have a job or something?" He couldn't quite stop the corners of his mouth twitching into a grin.

"Jim can wait," Tyler told him with a wave of his hand. "I think Lindy's calling you guys back together. Better go, or they'll take away your captaincy." He smirked with Jamie shot him an annoyed look.

"This is why Nill keeps telling people that you're difficult," Cash said, hopping down the stairs. His floppy black hair nearly obscured his black eyes, which Tyler appreciated, since it kept him from seeing how often his youngest rolled his eyes at him.

Tyler sighed, then pulled Cash into a bone-crushing hug. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he lied into Cash's hair.

Cash snorted. "Right. Just like you have no idea what Nill's talking about when he says stuff about you and Uncle Jamie."

"Exactly," Tyler agreed, pulling back enough for Cash to see his grin. Then his expression straightened. "Wait. You're supposed to call him Mr. Nill, young man."

"He told me to call him Jim earlier," Cash said. "I figured 'Nill' was better than 'Jim,' but if it's not, just tell me."

Tyler let out a long-suffering sigh. He knew Jim was punishing him for his reluctance to deal with this damn Western by prompting Cash to insubordination. Jim knew that Marshall would never do it, but that Cash lived for that sort of thing.

"He's just saying that to make me mad," Tyler told Cash. "So please keep calling him 'Mr. Nill.'"

"I know that's what he's doing," Cash said. "And if you'd answer your comm every once in a while, he would stop doing it."

"Shush, you. I'm trying to enjoy my afternoon here at the rink. I can't believe my boss is siccing my own children on me." Tyler shook his head sadly, gazing at his two boys.

"I'm not sicced on you, Dad," Marshall spoke up. He took the seat next to Tyler and snuggled into his side. "I'm always on your side."

"I think it's funny," Cash admitted, grinning at his dad before dropping into his lap. Tyler let out an 'oof' as he barely brought his knees up in time to keep his junk from getting smashed by his overly enthusiastic son.

Tyler let Cash settle in and wrapped his arm around Marshall while they watched the rest of practice. In all honesty, he had already dealt with most of the issues Jim wanted to talk to him about—he just preferred to let the man sweat it out a bit before laying all his fears to rest. Really, though, the man had been the one to bring him over from the _Bruin,_  so he of all people should know that Tyler can get the job done. He had faith in Tyler before Tyler really had faith in Tyler.

Once practice was over, Jamie came and found them.

"I hope you guys weren't too bored watching that," he said self-consciously. He ran his fingers through the long part of his hair, then shrugged and let it fall over the buzzed sides.

"It was really fun," Marshall told him, pulling away from his dad to hug Jamie. "I'm really excited to watch y'all play this weekend. It's going to be so great."

Cash got up from Tyler's lap and demanded a hug from Jamie as well. Then he asked, "Do you know who Coach Ruff is going to put in net for the game? I mean, Antii's been super good lately, but with two games in three days, do you think he'll switch? I just really like watching Kari play." He managed not to remove his face from Jamie's chest and still be perfectly understood.

"He'll probably switch, but maybe not. Who can really tell with him, you know," Jamie said.

"Okay, boys, let go of Uncle Jamie for a minute." Tyler stood as well, brushing imaginary lint from his shirt. Once the boys stepped away, he held his arms out. "Do I get a hug, too?"

Jamie smiled and shrugged, then opened his arms, which Tyler was definitely taking as an invitation. He hugged Jamie around his (broad, so broad, damn) chest and tried not to be too obvious as he smelled the sweat/soap/ _Jamie_ smell of the man. He forced a wide grin when he pulled back.

"Did, uh," Jamie stumbled over his words, which happened less than it used to. "Did you want to go get something to eat with me? Or a coffee, or um, hot chocolate or something?" His eyes darted between Tyler and the boys.

"We'd love to," Tyler agreed, eyes crinkling with the force of his grin. Spending time with Jamie in any capacity was his second favorite thing to do (his favorite being, of course, spending time with his boys).

Cash coughed suddenly. "Actually, uh, Marshall and I both promised Mr. Nill we'd tell him what you said about the Western."

"I didn't —" Marshall's protest was cut off when Cash 'accidentally' elbowed him in the ribs. Tyler frowned at his younger son for a moment.

"Yeah, we did," Cash insisted, using some sort of brotherly telepathy to communicate with him. Tyler realized that his son was trying to give Tyler some time alone with Jamie, and he couldn't decide if he was grateful or mortified. Probably both.

"Okay, yes. We have to go talk to Mr. Nill again," Marshall agreed. "See y'all later?"

"Of course," Tyler assured him. "Thanks for talking to Mr. Nill for me, boys. Catch up with me at dinner, okay?"

"Yes, dad," they chorused, then leaned in for a goodbye hug and kiss to the tops of their heads.

Tyler and Jamie watched them jostle each other as they bounded up the stairs, Cash hissing something at Marshall, who looked like he was coming to a long and surprising realization. When the reached the top of the bowl, Marshall turned back to Tyler and Jamie, eyes and mouth wide.

"You're really good with them," Jamie said, smiling at their antics.

Tyler felt himself blush. "I try my best, you know? My mom says that the most important thing about parenting is just to love them a lot, and everything else will kind of stem from that."

They walked to the cafe toward the bottom of the ship. It served an assortment of amazing drinks, but Tyler always got the same thing.

"One large sugar-free caramel macchiato with soy milk and no whip and one large vanilla latte," Jamie ordered. He kind of hated sugar-free and soy, but it was too important for him to stick to his trainer's diet for him to consider ordering otherwise. He would be proud of knowing Tyler's order, but it wasn't exactly difficult to remember that he only ever got vanilla lattes.

When he paid for it, Tyler protested. "You know I make good money, right? You don't have to pay for my coffee."

He pouted, until Jamie said, "I know. I wanted to pay for your coffee." He was smiling a little, cheeks going faintly pink. All of a sudden, the situation felt very date-like to Tyler.

"O-oh," he managed, fighting a blush of his own. "Well, uh, I guess next time I'll have to get it, eh?"

"Okay," Jamie agreed, then grabbed both of their drinks from the barista and took them to a small round table toward the back of the shop.

They spent a few hours there, talking about the upcoming hockey games and the antics of various actors and Tyler's kids and nothing at all. Sometimes Jamie would get this intense look in his big brown eyes, and Tyler would forget what he was saying. Then Jamie would prompt him, and he would usually manage to pick up the thread.

Once they got tired of the dirty looks from other customers who couldn't find a place to sit, they dropped their empty cups in the dish-return and walked together toward Tyler's apartment. Dinner would be in less than half an hour, and he shuddered to think what the boys would do in his absence.

"Thanks," he murmured, when they were outside his door. "Did you want to come in for dinner?"

"I told Jordie we'd go to that Mexican food place together tonight," Jamie said regretfully. "Next time?"

"'Course," Tyler agreed quickly. He hesitated before unlocking his door. "This was really fun," he finally said.

"Was it a good first date?" Jamie asked in a rush, as though he had to get it out quickly before his courage left him.

Tyler grinned so hard he had trouble keeping his eyes open.

"Very good. Only one way it could be better, really," he said.

When Jamie looked at him inquisitively, Tyler laughed, then wrapped his arms around Jamie's neck. He tilted his head up in an obvious invitation, then quirked his eyebrows.

Jamie chuckled, then leaned down and kissed him.

"Best first date ever," Tyler said against his mouth. Then he pulled him down into another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I made Marshall and Cash be Tyler's adopted human sons. I do not regret this decision at all. They would be such cute boys.
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://luccaloveswords.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
